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Thursday, May 21, 2015

Today, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division
announced that it has completed its investigation of the Hinds County Adult
Detention Center and the Jackson City Detention Center and issued a letter of
findings that determined that Hinds County, Mississippi, violates prisoners’
constitutional rights at both jail facilities.The department found that the jail facilities fail to protect prisoners
from violence by other prisoners and from improper use of force by staff.The department also found that the jail
facilities detain prisoners beyond court-ordered release dates.

Systemic deficiencies contribute to serious harm and risk of
harm at the jail facilities.In the past
three years, at least three major riots occurred, resulting in one prisoner’s
death and the closing of entire housing units.The department also documented rampant prisoner-on-prisoner violence,
including an additional prisoner-on-prisoner homicide and a remarkable volume
of contraband.The department found
systemic deficiencies in staffing; policies and training; security and
classification procedures; physical plant and maintenance; contraband control;
and administrative review and other accountability measures to prevent, detect
and investigate improper uses of force.

The department found that in an effort to address staffing
and security concerns, Hinds County has locked down and otherwise improperly
housed prisoners—severely limiting or eliminating access to treatment,
education, exercise and visitation.The
department noted that juvenile prisoners and prisoners with mental illness are
acutely harmed by the lockdowns.One
prisoner, who could neither speak nor hear, had been living in a cramped, dark
booking cell with a reeking toilet for nearly three years.

The department also found that inadequate staffing and
training, a backlog in record filing, and a lack of centralized information
have resulted in prisoners being held beyond court-ordered release dates.The delays, most of which were between one
and ten days, arose in a variety of circumstances, including after judges
ordered prisoners released for lack of probable cause, for lack of prosecution,
after adjudication of a guilty plea, and after requisite contempt fines had
been paid.The longest period of
over-detention—70 days—was for a 13-year-old middle school student, who was
held a total of 173 days at the jail facilities without an indictment.The department also voiced concern that
delays in indicting prisoners, obtaining forensic mental health review, and
bringing cases to trial may lead to unnecessary and prolonged incarceration,
draining much-needed resources from the jail facilities.

“Hinds County Adult Detention Center and the Jackson City
Detention Center are facilities in crisis,” said Principal Deputy Assistant
Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division.“Making these facilities safe will require
broad systemic reforms and a local commitment to improve staffing and
operations.The jail facilities play an
integral part in the county’s criminal justice system, and it will take
cooperation between everyone involved to make the changes needed.The Civil Rights Division looks forward to
working with county officials to bring these facilities into compliance with
constitutional standards.”

“The Hinds County detention facilities have an obligation to
provide conditions of confinement that do not offend the Constitution,” said
U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis of the Southern District of Mississippi.“This office will work with the Civil Rights
Division of the Department of Justice to address and remedy the violations revealed
by the investigation.”

The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA)
authorizes the department to seek a remedy for a pattern or practice of conduct
that violates the constitutional rights of persons confined in a jail, prison
or other correctional facility.The
Attorney General may initiate a lawsuit pursuant to CRIPA forty-nine days after
issuance of the findings letter to correct deficiencies identified in the
letter if county officials have not satisfactorily addressed the concerns.

The department commends county officials and jail facilities
staff for their cooperation and receptivity to the department’s concerns and
looks forward to continuing to work with them in a collaborative manner to
resolve the department’s findings expeditiously and under mutually agreeable
terms.